David and Debbie Greene of Knoxville, Tenn., should rent a place in Spartanburg.

Their oldest son, Ty, is the second-leading scorer on the USC Upstate basketball team and a former freshman of the year in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Their younger son, Sam, has signed to play at Spartanburg Methodist.

“I keep telling my parents they might as well get a condo in Spartanburg. There’s no reason for them to be in Knoxville all winter,” Sam said. “… This was convenient for my parents and grandparents. They’re probably going to come to every home game. And with SMC being such a good school and good program, it was an easy decision for me.”

Sam was steered toward SMC in a couple of other different ways as well. USC Upstate assistant coach Kyle Perry knows the Greene family well and kept recommending SMC. Also, Ty became good friends with former Pioneer standout Ben Johnson from Boiling Springs High School. They got to know each other on a mission trip for their church.

“My brother kept saying that those SMC games are crazy and the place is packed every game,” Sam said. “He was really impressed with the team and I was, too.”

SMC, which went 35-1 last year and was ranked No. 1 in the country before finishing third in the junior-college national tournament, lost nine of the top 10 players to graduation. Sam is a 6-foot-5 wing, three inches taller than his brother, and has a different game.

“He’s more of a spot-up, 3-point shooter,” Sam said. “I like to take the ball to the hole first, personally. I’m more of a slasher and a rebounder. I like to get to the boards and get out the break. But I also know how important it is to play hard and take pride in defense.”

So who wins the one-on-one battles?

“In all honesty, I beat my brother. He doesn’t want to admit that,” Sam said. “But most of the time, our games out on the driveway get broken up by our parents.”

About This Blog

Todd Shanesy is an award-winning sports writer who has been twice honored nationally by the Associated Press and more than three dozen times by the South Carolina Press Association. He is a native of Troy, Ohio, and studied journalism at Marshall University (1987 graduate). Shanesy is a former sports editor of the Florence (S.C.) Morning News and has been with the Spartanburg Herald-Journal since 1991.

Follow him two ways on Twitter: @ToddShanesySHJ and @TerrierTracker (for everything Wofford-related).